07 MAY 2022
A NEW WAY OF TALKING BUSINESS
BUSINESS AND RESEARCH Gender equality: changes at the top /P.14
GOOD NEWS Believing in yourself, a user guide /P.16
NICE TO MEET YOU Feet on the ground, looking towards the sky /P.18
TRUST, A PRECIOUS RESOURCE P.04
EMPOWERING CHANGEMAKERS FOR A BETTER SOCIETY
LOOK
THEY CONTRIBUTED TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS ISSUE... THANKS TO:
A BETTER SOCIETY
Trust, luxury and digital: the NFTs, the perfect trilogy?
/P.09
• Catherine Archambault • Fanny Auger • Jérémie Bertrand • Éric Briones • Élodie Catalano • Édouard Crémer • Renaud Czarnes • Stéphanie Gicquel • Virginie Guyot • Felipe Guzman • Sylvain Hajri • Nicolas Hennon • Paula Seixas • Rose Sermaize • Ophélie Vanbremeersch
BUSINESS AND RESEARCH
The manufacturing of fake /P.12 products
NUMBER 07
The magazine that provides a different business perspective IÉSEG 3 rue de la Digue - 59000 Lille 1 parvis de La Défense - 92044 Paris www.ieseg.fr May 2022 Publishing director and editor in chief: Laure Quedillac Editorial board: Alexandra Briot, Antoine Decouvelaere, Laetitia Dugrain-Noël, Manon Duhem, Andrew Miller, Victoire Salmon, Vincent Schiltz, Laure Quedillac Design & development: Caillé associés Editing: Caillé associés Photographs: Crenel, Jean-Sébastien Evrard, Christophe Géral - Efis Prod, Pierre Kalaijian, Philippe Quaisse, Leopold Rigaut, istock2022
02
N°07 I A new way of talking business
BUSINESS AND RESEARCH
Liberated companies: the /P.13 challenges of trust
GOOD NEWS
Labelling trust
/P.16
BETWEEN US
WELL FUNDED FOUNDATIONS “To have confidence in the future today is not to give in to naivety or blissful optimism, it is to arm ourselves in order to act.”
Caroline ROUSSEL Vice dean - IÉSEG
Jean-Philippe AMMEUX IÉSEG’s dean
To speak of confidence in a world that has never seemed so lacking in it might seem audacious. From climate change to energy crises, from persistent health uncertainties to geopolitical fractures, the bad news is piling up to the point of undermining what is the basis of a healthy and peaceful society, by slowly injecting it with the poison of mistrust. But who cares? It is when questions arise that answers must be found. The experts, professionals and researchers who have contributed to this seventh issue of CHANGE demonstrate that having confidence in the future today does not mean giving in to naivety or blissful optimism, but rather, arming ourselves in order to act. What we see every day on our campuses confirms this. Confidence is also the confidence that this young generation possesses regarding the challenges that lie ahead. Our students seem to us to be anything but wary. On the contrary, they are aware and willing, mature and determined to act today, through their community and their school commitments, and tomorrow, within a professional life that they approach with the desire to act for a better society. The confidence they and their families have manifested in joining us does not emerge from nowhere. It has been built patiently and calmly, over time, with an unwavering rigour. With particular attention to the human factor, IÉSEG carries out its teaching and research missions with exactitude, rigour and benevolence, cardinal virtues in order to maintain the trust of our students, our employees and our graduates. Trust is also what characterises the relationship between us and our stakeholders, built on constant proximity and a concern to always ensure that we meet the expectations of a professional world whose practices and conjectures change over time - and this is positive. Finally, trust is the dominant feeling within the school at a time when a change of management is looming. As the torch is passed on, one thing is certain: the ties between the former director, the future director and the members of the board of directors are strong, because they are not new. The school has confidence in its strengths, just as it has confidence in those who will embark on their working lives tomorrow
A new way of talking business I N°07
03
A BETTER SOCIETY
TRUST, A PRECIOUS RESOURCE
Lawyer, extreme sportswoman, author and entrepreneur, Stéphanie Gicquel is one of a handful of explorers who have travelled to both poles, North and South. As a high-level sportswoman, she has never ceased to take on the most extreme challenges, while regularly making speeches for companies and in the media about adaptation, commitment and perseverance. For Change, she goes back to the roots of a key element of success: trust.
HIGH-LEVEL SPORT, EXPLORATION... YOU HAVE MULTIPLIED CHALLENGES THAT SEEM UNATTAINABLE. WHERE DOES THE NECESSARY CONFIDENCE COME FROM?
This is closely linked to experience. When you are embarking for the first time on a project that is very far from your starting point, the level of confidence is obviously not the same as when you have already completed other adventures. My first challenge had nothing to do with high-level sport: it dates back to my teenage years, when I was at school, and I decided that I would attend a business school following the baccalaureate, a goal that seemed unattainable at the time. What carried me along was that I saw it as a way of emancipating myself and of fulfilling my desire to travel and to explore. That’s where the adventure begins: when you step out of your comfort zone and turn an idea into a goal. This first experience taught me a lot.
WHY?
For the first time, I was confronted with reactions that I would come across, again, later on: the incomprehension of those around me, the need to adapt to an environment whose codes you don’t know, the fact that people keep telling you that you’re not going to make it... You feel like you are walking a tightrope, with the impression that you are going to fall off at the next step. And little by little, you learn to push your limits. When you say you want to cross Antarctica (see insert), you hear the same things: it’s risky, it’s completely crazy, it’s impossible for a woman...
Going through all the stages that make it possible to succeed in a challenge of this type allows you to face the next one in a different way, because you know that you were able to succeed in the previous one, despite the obstacles, the adverse winds, the failures... You also learn to distance yourself from the way others look at you, by allowing yourself to leave the norm and the injunctions.
phone, so you don’t have to carry a heavier model. The problem is that the battery of a conventional phone is not designed to withstand temperatures of -40 or -50°C. I preferred to keep a regular, but safe satellite phone. Technically speaking, the latest innovations are not always more reliable than the more established solutions.
HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A NEW ADVENTURE?
Beyond the purely physical preparation, the mental aspect plays an important role. I spend a lot of time imagining the obstacles that await me, which allows me to accept them more easily when they materialize, without wasting time refusing them or complaining about them. Another important aspect of this preparation is to visualize success or victory before an expedition or competition. It is a way of allowing yourself to think that you can be the first, that you can achieve what no one else has done. Visualizing it provides a lot of well-being, but it is also what motivates you to keep on working and preparing.
CONFIDENCE IS NOT A PURELY MENTAL ISSUE. HOW IMPORTANT IS TECHNICAL PREPARATION?
This is a major factor. I have been let down by my equipment in the middle of an ultratrail race, when my headlamp broke down in the middle of the night, while I was in the lead. I hadn’t tested it before, so I learned my lesson. When I went to Antarctica, I was offered the chance to test a technical solution that turns a conventional mobile phone into a satellite
81 % OF FRENCH PEOPLE CONSIDER THAT IT IS DIFFICULT FOR A YOUNG PERSON TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE
(IPSOS, 2021).
A new way of talking business I N°07
05
A BETTER SOCIETY
HOW DO YOU COPE WITH DOUBT?
Confidence is sometimes like a form of faith, but it goes hand in hand with the doubts that are within me, every minute. In a competition, as in an expedition, one seeks by definition to succeed in a rare or unprecedented performance, which implies confronting the unexpected and one’s own limits, however prepared one may be. You have to live with these grey areas and accept the risk of failure, bearing in mind that a possible failure would also be a lesson in how to prepare yourself better for the next time. Doubt and confidence are not contradictory, on the contrary. Both are useful..
YOU HAVE UNDERTAKEN AND SUCCEEDED IN MANY CHALLENGES. LOOKING BACK, WHAT WAS THE ONE THAT PUSHED YOU FURTHEST?
Crossing Antarctica is undoubtedly the most extreme project I have ever faced because the risk of not coming back is greater. Some situations are about survival, for example when you are confronted with temperatures of -50°C, but others leave you totally helpless. One day, in white fog, I couldn’t even see my skis. When I regained visibility, I was on the verge of walking on a snow bridge over a crevasse. If I had gone a few metres further, I wouldn’t be here to talk about it.
HOW CAN ONE AVOID GOING TOO FAR? HOW DOES ONE FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN CONFIDENCE AND OVERCONFIDENCE?
I am convinced that every athlete has a little inner voice that serves as a warning signal when he or she is confronted with a goal that is actually unattainable, for whatever reason. You have to learn to listen to it, just as you have to learn to listen to your body, even when all the lights seem green from the outside. By listening to one’s own sincere motivation and keeping one’s distance from external discourse, I believe that one is able to build informed trust. But confidence should never lead to underestimating a goal and the effort needed to achieve it, otherwise it becomes excessive and does not serve the performance. # GOING FURTHER www.acsel.eu
Stéphanie GICQUEL
Extreme sportswoman, author
“We learn to distance ourselves from the gaze of others, by accepting to leave the norm and its injunctions.”
2,045 KILOMETRES ACROSS ANTARCTICA In 2015, Stéphanie Gicquel achieved what is still the record for the longest ski raid by a female athlete in Antarctica, covering 2,045 km in 74 days, on foot and without a traction sail. A specialist in ultratrail and ultra deep-sea running, she regularly participates in work with experts and researchers from INSEP and the Athletics Federation, as well as from the Armed Forces Research Institute and the Altitude Training Centre, on the human body’s capacity to adapt to endurance events and environmental stresses. A member of the French athletics team, she ran more than 240 km in 24 hours during the last World Ultra-Distance Race and is currently preparing for the 100 km World Championships to be held in Germany this summer.
06
N°07 I A new way of talking business
TRUST AND MANAGEMENT: A MATTER OF BALANCE With teleworking and the pandemic, the question of trust has never been more important than in recent months, with managers often finding themselves at a distance from their teams. But how do you build a relationship that cannot be regulated? The view of Felipe Guzman, research professor in organisational behaviour at IÉSEG. CONTROL AND TRUST ARE OFTEN CONTRASTED IN THE PROFESSIONAL WORLD. ARE MANAGERS TOO DISTRUSTFUL OF THEIR TEAMS?
The problem of trust in business is as old as business itself. In 1916, when the French engineer Henry Fayol published his seminal work Administration Industrielle et Générale, he was already pointing out the importance of ensuring that work is done well, while noting the potential dangers of excessive control. Excessive control of employees creates problems, too little control also creates problems - but different problems. So the issue of trust is a real one, not necessarily contemporary, and I’m not sure that the need to control is greater today than it was a hundred years ago, even if technology has changed.
HAS THE PANDEMIC CHANGED ANYTHING BECAUSE OF THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF WORKING AT A DISTANCE?
Absolutely. The issue of monitoring and controlling has become more relevant than ever with the advent of teleworking. The evidence at this stage suggests that managers greatly increased the extent of their control in the early days of the pandemic, not least because readily available technology allows them to monitor their employees far more closely than in the past, at least in those companies in developed countries. So on the face of it, managers have shown a higher degree
of distrust. But I think it is now becoming clear to everyone that teleworking leads to similar if not higher levels of performance than on-site work. Hopefully, this evidence will encourage managers to trust their teams more.
team must feel that you care about them and their well-being. Finally, the most important aspect is to honour your commitments, which means following the golden rule of never promising anything you cannot deliver.
WHAT IS THE BASIS FOR TRUST?
This happens at different levels. The first layer is at an individual level: some people are naturally more trusting than others, more likely to trust a stranger than others would be. Once we get to know our colleagues, we can develop a form of ‘professional trust’ based on three questions: Is this person capable of doing their job? Are their intentions good? Do they keep their promises? Trust develops with those for whom we can answer these three questions with a resounding yes. Finally, with a handful of individuals, we develop a form of interpersonal trust, with a positive emotional attachment. These are the people with whom we can share our feelings, hopes and fears because we know that the other person will respond in a caring way. These relationships are rare, but they are the most important ones.
WHAT BUILDS TRUST AND WHAT CAN THREATEN IT?
Managers have three tools at their disposal. Firstly, our behaviour at work must be consistent and our team must be able to anticipate our reactions in most situations. Secondly, every member of the
Felipe GUZMAN
Professor of human resources at IÉSEG
A new way of talking business I N°07
07
A BETTER SOCIETY
DIGITAL TRUST, WHERE DO WE STAND? Administrative procedures, online commerce, teleworking... Pandemic obliges, we have never before relied on digital technology as much as we have during the last two years, and in all fields. Is this enough to remove the last doubts some people have about digital? Every year, ACSEL, the main multi-sector and cross-sector digital association in France, measures the degree of confidence of the French concerning all things digital. Its latest report, published last February, highlights the widespread use of digital practices, both in the professional and private spheres: e-administration, e-commerce, e-banking, social networks, instant messaging, cloud services and AI... New practises are being added to the traditional ones, some of which have been adopted very quickly, while others are perceived with more caution. While nine out of ten Internet users have already turned to e-health solutions, only 27% of those surveyed say they are considering making payments in virtual currency in the short term, and
08
N°07 I A new way of talking business
only 36% say they have confidence in the idea of crypto currency.
TRUST FACTORS
The fact remains that French people’s confidence is not blind, far from it. Phishing, online scams, data leaks... Cyber risks are still undermining an overall level of confidence that is stagnating: 43%, compared to 42% in 2021. How can the last hesitations be removed? With adequate and increasingly familiar tools, thanks to the strong authentication systems already deployed by the banks. But other avenues are also favoured, such as the implementation of a digital trust “cyberscore” system, a sort of Yuka of online risk that would give a “trust rating” to the sites visited (78% of those surveyed
would feel reassured) or the generalisation of certified digital identity systems such as France Connect. This does not prevent the French from displaying one of those paradoxes that is part of their charm: eager to safeguard, a majority still wants to remain anonymous on the Internet... # GOING FURTHER www.acsel.eu
TRUST, LUXURY AND DIGITAL: NFTS, THE PERFECT TRILOGY? Rarely have three little letters caused such a stir: NFTs, these works created from a physical reality (or not) and rendered immaterial by the magic of new technologies, are the talk of the town in every field. And they could well revolutionise the world of luxury, explains Éric Briones, an expert in the sector and managing director of the Journal du Luxe, winner of the Prix Turgot 2021 for best collective book for Luxury & Resilience. IMMATERIAL TRUST
Éric BRIONES
General Director of Journal du Luxe
For a long time, luxury and digital seemed to follow parallel paths without really crossing paths. This is normal, explains Eric Briones: “until Web 3.0, the two worlds had nothing in common. The Internet represented profusion, accessibility and transparency, whereas the value of luxury products was based on rarity, exclusivity and the demonstration of a certain social status.” NFTs could well change the game: “they allow a sort of first meeting facilitated by the fact that the luxury industry has always taken care to prepare itself, to be ready to press the digital button,” explains the expert. “Because with NFTs, luxury and digital find a common ground by introducing the notion of craftsmanship and rarity while getting closer to the world of art, which is never very far from that of luxury. They allow a kind of “luxification” and “VIPsation” of the digital. Buying luxury products in the form of NFTs is like joining the club within the club.”
But for which clientele, after all, one would tend to believe that the intangibility of NFTs could put off a public attentive to the quality of physical products: a certain material, authenticity, a touch, rare knowhow... “There is not one single clientele for luxury, but an archipelago of clienteles”, refutes Éric Briones, who points out the capacity of the sector to always innovate first, and then go on to attract new consumers. “If any sector can magnify the intangible, it is the luxury sector. To quote digital artist Rhea Myers, there is no rarer thing than that which does not exist. NFTs are a way to reach a new audience, with an obvious generational effect. Although one should be careful not to generalise, they are a good way of attracting millennials and first-time buyers, young people who are well off and have been immersed in digital technology and for whom immateriality is not an issue. The authenticity of NFTs and their rarity is guaranteed by the blockchain: the trust is there and everyone benefits. NFTs need the luxury industry to settle down over time and the latter needs to develop using new media platforms.”
NFTS, BUT WHAT FOR?
Exactly, but just what can you sell at such a price? Eric Briones underlines several possibilities. “The first is to combine a physical product, for example a Chanel bag, with its digital twin. But you can also create a purely immaterial product: this is what Dolce & Gabbana and Nike have done, for example”. Both of these companies have set records: in October 2021, the nine pieces of the Italian designer’s “Collezione Genesi” sold for... 5.65 million dollars. Nike has been riding the wave of limited-edition sneakers that fans are
NFT
NFT STANDS FOR “NONFUNGIBLE TOKEN”, AN IMMATERIAL DIGITAL “OBJECT”, THE ALGORITHM OF WHICH IS RECORDED BY A BLOCKCHAIN THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO TRACE ITS PATH AND GUARANTEE ITS AUTHENTICITY.
snapping up in the physical world. The launch of 20,000 virtual Nike CryptoKicks last March was a historic success: within hours of their launch, each virtual pair was already trading at around $8,500 on online resale platforms. And there are other prospects, says Eric Briones: “NFTs make it possible to associate a physical product with a kind of digital passport. This is what Breitling is doing: not only do its customers have access to a wealth of information about their watch, but if they resell it, the new owner will also benefit from it”. This is a way for the luxury industry to get its hands on a secondhand market that previously it could not access, with an exclusively business objective. As for the risk of a bubble associated with NFTs, could it undermine the confidence of a clientele that can afford to buy luxury products, but without any substance? No, smiles Eric Briones: “speculation has always been part of luxury.”
A new way of talking business I N°07
09
A BETTER SOCIETY
THE DEMOCRACY OF MISTRUST Disaffection among young people, record abstention... All the studies show that between the French and their elected representatives, the bond of trust has been largely eroded, if not broken. How can we find the right tone? What role can communication play in repairing a relationship that is essential to the serene exercise of democracy? This is the opinion of Renaud Czarnes, currently Executive Director of Communications at RTE and former communications advisor and head of the press office of Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. CAN POLITICAL COMMUNICATION INFLUENCE CITIZENS’ TRUST?
Renaud CZARNES
Communication Director for RTE
39 %
OF FRENCH PEOPLE SAY THEY FIRST FEEL DISTRUSTFUL OF POLITICAL ACTORS AND 17 % FEEL DISGUST (CEVIPOF, 2021).
RENAUD CZARNES, ANTI-MANUEL DE COMMUNICATION POLITIQUE, PUBLISHED BY KAWA, 2019.
Trust cannot be regulated: it must be earned. The question of trust arises at every election and is even more acute during the presidential election, where the level of abstention reflects the fact that a large part of the population is not interested, or no longer interested in politics. The eternal criticism is that of the gap between words and deeds. The political class is no longer audible to a growing part of the population. This phenomenon was particularly well explained in Jérôme Fourquet’s L’archipel français. In particular, he evokes the “secession of the elites”, a form of “social separatism” and demonstrates that the privileged classes have lost contact with society and therefore find it increasingly difficult to grasp the expectations and values of the middle and working classes. Communication, which is nothing more than the expression of a message by a person at a specific moment, presupposes that there is still an audience! This is where we find ourselves. It is above all a question of restoring trust, otherwise communication is pointless.
The latter has no power to restore trust if the preconditions are not met. Communicating without proof is a sure way of losing trust forever. Communicators are useful as scapegoats when nothing goes according to plan. When it comes to political communication, no one knows what to do - otherwise we would know about it. But we have a pretty good idea of what not to do because that’s what everyone does all the time!
One of the fundamental rules is to say what you do and to do what you say. This is both basic and extremely complex: all politicians have it in mind, but few succeed. Ideally, politicians should refrain from making promises they cannot keep.
2
N°07 I A new way of talking business
HOW CAN POLITICIANS REGAIN THE TRUST OF CITIZENS THROUGH COMMUNICATION?
WHAT LEVERS DOES POLITICAL COMMUNICATION POSSESS IN ORDER TO RESTORE THIS RELATIONSHIP?
1
10
“Avoid promising results, wrote Auguste Detoeuf in 1948. If you have to promise results, keep them below what you think is guaranteed. You will not be blamed for delivering more than you promised; you will never be forgiven for failing to deliver what you promised. It’s so simple! It is often said in political communication that one should not “insult the future”. This is exactly what this is about.
Seuil, 2019 Comments by O.L. Barenton, sweet maker, Rééd. Eyrolles, 1982.
WHEN TRUST GOES BAD Despite being regularly mentioned in the press through various cases, breach of trust remains a rather vague offence in the eyes of the general public. What does it consist of and in what cases can it be encountered? Paula Seixas, head of the legal department at the Caisse d’Epargne Hauts de France, provides an update. Always painful, the feeling of having been betrayed in one’s private or professional life does not always fall under the jurisdiction of the law - but sometimes it does, explains Paula Seixas. “Article 314-1 of the Criminal Code defines breach of trust as the fact of misappropriating, to the detriment of another person, funds, securities or any property whatsoever that has been handed over to him or her and that he or she has accepted, on condition that he or she returns them, represents them or makes a specific use of them”.This is a vast field that excludes real estate but concerns a wide category of tangible or intangible assets: the use of a vehicle for purposes other than those agreed upon, purchases made with a bank card or checks lent for a specific purpose, misappropriation of goods or customer files, etc.
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH
Often confused with fraud, breach of trust is nevertheless clearly distinguished from it in the mind of the legislator. “Unlike theft or fraud, the perpetrator has a genuine right to the property concerned. The victim has voluntarily handed over the property or allowed him to dispose of it, but the perpetrator misappropriates or abuses it”. Another notable difference is that it differs from abuse of weakness: “The latter presupposes that the perpetrator takes advantage of the victim’s state of weakness to determine that he or she will carry out an act of which he or she is not fully aware, for example because of his or her age or any disability. Breach of trust protects the infringement of private property, whereas abuse of weakness protects the person”. But the main distinction refers to yet another offence,
at least in the professional sphere of companies, explains Paula Seixas: abuse of corporate assets, which consists of managers knowingly using the company’s assets, credit, powers or votes for their own direct or indirect purposes. “In the case of common facts, the offence of abuse of corporate assets prevails over the offence of breach of trust, because of its special field and its more severe punishment”.
with his customers”. Once again, it is a question of trust.
THE CENTRAL ROLE OF THE BANKS
Abuse of trust, on the other hand, is a more common occurrence. “It is an incrimination that can be found in all areas, from private life to politics and the professional world. To take a famous case, in the ‘Jérôme Kerviel affair’, he was accused of having committed a breach of trust, among other things. More generally, an employee who embezzles sums entrusted to him for a specific purpose or who uses his working time for a purpose other than that which justifies his remuneration may be convicted of breach of trust”. A legal person may also be guilty of breach of trust if it does not fall within the scope of the offence of abuse of corporate assets, for example an association that diverts funds collected from its donors from their stated purpose. This helps to explain the central role of banks in detecting breaches of trust: “We are by nature well placed to detect situations of potential abuse, for example by noticing abnormal and regular movements on accounts over which a third party has power of attorney. For a banker, the difficulty lies in finding the right balance between his duty of vigilance, his duty of non-interference and the need to maintain a quality link
Paula SEIXAS
Head of legal department at the Caisse d’Epargne Hauts de France.
IN 2020,
11,675 CONVICTIONS FOR
FRAUD OR BREACH OF TRUST WERE DELIVERED IN FRANCE (MINISTRY OF JUSTICE). BREACH OF TRUST IS AN OFFENCE PUNISHABLE BY UP TO FIVE YEARS’ IMPRISONMENT AND A FINE OF UP TO
375,000 EUROS.
A new way of talking business I N°07
11
BUSINESS AND RESEARCH
THE MAKING OF FAKE The old English saying that “by the time the Truth gets its shoes on, a lie has already gone around the globe” has never seemed so accurate. In the age of deep fakes and social networks, how can we trust images? Une A blurred head emerging from the waters of Loch Ness, former collaborators of Stalin erased from official photos... If the manipulation of images is not new and if forgery and airbrushing are consubstantial with the history of photography, the digital revolution is nevertheless changing the current situation - a question of scale, explains Sylvain Hajri, founder of the OSINT-FR community (see insert) and of the company Epieos, which specialises in open intelligence. “Yesterday, fake photos circulated thanks to the propaganda services. Today, they are spreading all over WhatsApp, Twitter... Technology also makes it possible to go one step further: Photoshop can of course manipulate a photo, but a site like This Person Does Not Exist proposes to generate a strikingly realistic image of a person who does not exist, which makes it possible to create credible fake accounts. Deep fakes, on the other hand, can make anyone say anything.”
DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE FAKE
And the faking industry is almost within the reach of the average person. Yesterday, reserved only for connoisseurs, the manipulation of images and videos is more accessible today, using software that is often free, tutorials that are freely available, and equipment that most often boils down to a PC with a good graphics card. With a little patience, almost anyone can hijack an image and distribute it. But technology is not the only way to deceive your audience, insists Sylvain Hajri: “Most of the fake images and fake videos that circulate on the web are not that sophisticated. One of the most common techniques is to relay an image that is real but taken in a context that is different from the event to which it is attached, for example, by passing off an image taken five years ago in Syria as one taken today in Ukraine. We have known since Churchill’s era that truth is the first casualty of war, and the RussianUkrainian conflict proves this every day,”
notes Sylvain Hajri, “Most of the manipulation techniques used in Ukraine have already been used elsewhere, but this war is closer, which exposes us more to this constant competition of images”. At the pace of a veritable digital guerrilla war, each side is trying to impose its own narrative of events in order to influence public opinion. At the official level as well as on the networks, each side contests the pictures or videos broadcast by the other side, such as those of the massacre of civilians in Butcha, contested to the point of absurdity by the Russian authorities. Another method is the use of images taken from... video games. For example, images supposedly showing the escape of a Russian plane from flak fire were taken straight out of Arma III, a game that is almost ten years old. Beyond the political and geopolitical confrontations, the business world would be wrong to believe that it is spared by the phenomenon, stresses Sylvain Hajri,
GETTING INFORMED AND FIGHTING BACK: THE OSINT-FR COMMUNITY Created in 2019 by Sylvain Hajri and Hugo Benoist, both from the world of cybersecurity, OSINT-FR is a community that brings together connoisseurs and the curious who are interested in Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) in English. The goal? To collect and analyse information extracted from freely accessible sources (websites, public data, accounts on social networks or media, satellite imagery, paper newspapers...) to establish facts, verify information and allow for rigorous and reliable analyses. While professionals in the field of journalism or cybersecurity are obviously primarily concerned, the community also aims to be a place of education and pedagogy available to every citizen interested in the veracity of information.
WWW.OSINTFR.COM
12
N°07 I A new way of talking business
LIBERATED COMPANIES: THE CHALLENGE OF A CLIMATE OF TRUST
who urges us not to believe that States or intelligence agencies are the only actors at work in this machine for producing falsehoods. “In my daily professional life, some of my clients regularly face this type of operation carried out by competitors in order to denigrate them and to compromise their reputation.” The question is how to fight against it. Individually, Sylvain Hajri advocates a form of vigilance in the face of images, inviting everyone to check the credibility of a photo before relaying it by using simple tools, such as the reverse search offered by the major search engines. On a collective level, fact checking is becoming a necessity for the media, notes the expert: “Most newsrooms are now recruiting knowledgeable people, trained to detect falsehoods, cross-check information and verify facts”. This is good news, provided that the race for scoops and ratings does not compete with a verification process that has never before been so necessary.
Sylvain HAJRI
Founder of the OSINY-FR community and the Epios company
Catherine ARCHAMBAULT Professor of strategy at IÉSEG
Nicolas HENNON
Previous General Director at Kiabi, Executive Director responsible for Consumer Affairs at Creadev
Hierarchies that are too rigid, supervision that is too strict, topdown approaches... For employees, working with confidence is not always a matter of course - hence the idea of liberating companies in order to encourage initiative-taking. “A liberated company manages to challenge traditional hierarchical practices,” explains Catherine Archambault, teacher and researcher at IÉSEG. Everything is based on the idea of increased autonomy and a different distribution of responsibilities. While jobs in the creative world are by nature more inviting than those subject to rigorous procedures or protocols, such as health or banking, “all companies can free themselves,” insists Catherine Archambault, “provided that the top management believes in it, invests in it and shows it on a daily basis.” Nicolas Hennon, former CEO of Kiabi, can testify to this: after testing different methods to relaunch the brand in Italy, he applied this strategy to the entire brand. “The aim was to allow each person to make decisions independently, with confidence and boldness, within the scope that concerns them,” he explains, “to create value but also to allow employees to fulfil their potential. New governance, new managerial postures, new habits... “Everything has to be invented, starting with a strategy thought out with the employees.” How? By working on listening, meaning, and non-violent communication, three essential pillars of trust, individually and collectively. “We set up the Ki-Ecoute, which brought together about fifteen employees from all the business lines. Top management is present, but does not intervene, simply creating a favourable space of trust. It’s a way of allowing everyone to get out of their own corridor: being able to communicate without embarrassment and explain without fear what is going well or not so well is the key to a climate of trust.” And it works: initiated in 2015, the company’s move to self-management has enabled it to improve its results and move from 10th to 2nd place in “The Great Place to Work” ranking in three years.
A new way of talking business I N°07
13
GOOD NEWS
GENDER EQUALITY: CHANGES AT THE SUMMIT
The sensitive issue of gender equality requires a rethink of how companies identify and support future female managers. But how can we create the conditions for fair progress? We take a look at this issue with Élodie Catalano, Director of Talent and HR Development France for the Carrefour Group. THERE IS A GROWING TREND IN PROGRAMMES TO ADVANCE WOMEN EQUITABLY IN BUSINESS. HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS?
Many companies have understood that gender equality is a strategic lever for growth and performance, but also for innovation and well-being at work. More broadly, diversity brings complementarity and a wealth of viewpoints that contribute to the loyalty of our employees and customers. It is hard to see how a company could make the right decisions and satisfy all its customers without this diversity of genders, profiles, backgrounds and experiences. Carrefour must reflect the plurality of our society in order to serve its customers well.
HOW HAS THE COMPANY DEALT WITH GENDER EQUALITY ISSUES IN RECENT YEARS?
Carrefour is committed with the support of the Executive Committee, which Carine Kraus, Director of Commitment, has recently joined. We have put in place concrete measures to move the lines: internal and inter-company training programmes, coaching, conferences by women with inspiring backgrounds, mentoring, etc. Although some of these programmes are reserved for women, many of our development programmes remain mixed, as we are convinced that this mix contributes to the wealth of exchanges and viewpoints, as well as to a form
14
N°07 I A new way of talking business
of awareness amongst men. These programmes prepare the leaders of tomorrow, they represent a real opportunity to create a network, in addition to the support and development that participants receive.
WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THE WOMEN LEADERS’ COURSE? WHAT DOES IT INVOLVE?
Élodie CATALANO
Director of Talent and HR
It was initiated ten years ago in Development France for partnership with IÉSEG. It is a Carrefour Group nine-month certification course aimed at women executives from all the group’s businesses. Its aim is to help them develop their leadership and strategic vision, but also to build their professional network and gain in impact and confidence. Participants alternate between training sessions, visits to start-ups or companies and mentoring. They are accompanied by a mentor, who is herself a graduate of the programme. The programme concludes with a tutored project that is presented to a jury. Our aim is to enable women to develop their knowledge of themselves, their own conscious or unconscious obstacles and
THE BANKING SYSTEM: CROSS TRUST What role does trust play in the relationship between the French and their banks? Jérémie Bertrand, professor of finance at IÉSEG, takes stock of the situation. WHY IS TRUST IMPORTANT IN THE BANKING SYSTEM?
“Diversity brings a wealth of perspectives that contribute to the loyalty of our employees and customers.” to instil in them the audacity to dare!
ARE THERE ANY AWARENESS-RAISING ACTIONS PLANNED FOR MALE EMPLOYEES?
Parity is not just a women’s issue. Men are expressing the desire to get involved and we must encourage them to do so, because their words help to change the situation. We regularly highlight men who share the idea that gender equality is a strength, for example on subjects such as parenthood in the workplace. Our #JeVeuxJePeux campaign allows us to disseminate our HR processes throughout the company and we regularly launch awareness-raising actions against sexism in the workplace. Finally, we are very committed to the fight against violence towards women.
Confidence is essential because we are dealing with their core business: asset transformation. A bank will transform short term deposits, which we want to be able to dispose of when needed and without risk, into long term loans, carrying a higher risk. The bank’s role is to provide loans to its customers while at the same time minimising the risks it shoulders, and to do this it must assess the borrower’s profile as best it can. This assessment is made using the information that one transmits to one’s bank. Now, this information is of two main types: quantitative data, our salary for example, which is rather simple to analyse, and qualitative analyses, our motivations, which are much more complex to obtain, but much more reliable for the analysis. Thus, qualitative information allows the bank to make a better analysis of its clients, but in order to obtain this, it is necessary to develop an important element: the trust between the client and the bank.
CAN YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE?
We know, for example, that the agricultural world is extremely reliable, with a very low default rate despite high investment risks. Why is this so? Because the banks know that farmers are trustworthy people, and that this trust is mutual. The fact that both parties are aware that they can rely on each other allows for a reliable exchange of qualitative information that enables the bank to calculate its risks extremely accurately. The heterogeneity of the banking system means that each bank will then turn to a particular type of customer.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?
Some institutions have a very strong culture of customer relations, as is often the case in the mutualist world. Others are more transactional and focus exclusively on activity. Each client then instinctively turns to the bank that meets their needs and specificities. A customer with an atypical profile, for example with an income that can fluctuate from month to month, will probably turn to a bank with a strong sense of customer relations. Another, with a regular income, will expect nothing more than a simple contractual relationship, without any particular attention.
Jérémie BERTRAND Professor of finance at IÉSEG *Center for studies and expertise in biomimicry **Otto Schmitt - Wikipédia (wikipedia.org)
A new way of talking business I N°07
15
GOOD NEWS
LABELISING TRUST Tourism, wine, gastronomy... Labels are everywhere. A guarantee of confidence for the most demanding consumers, they are also an opportunity for companies to improve their practices. Founded 32 years ago, Nature & Découverte and its 89 French shops have opted for a label with a reputation for high Fanny AUGER standards: B Corp, for Brand director at Benefit Corporation, an Nature & Découvertes international certification supported by the NGO B-Lab. A logical choice, explains Fanny Auger, the brand’s director: “Nature & Découvertes has always carried values of authenticity, sincerity and very strong pioneering commitments, such as the first CSR assessment in France in 1993, the first carbon assessment in 2007, or the company’s actions via its Foundation since 1994... With B-Corp, the logic is the same: the objective is not to seek labelling for the sake of labelling, but to choose the label that will help us move forward in terms of CSR”. In fact, obtaining the label is no easy task: environment, employees, governance, customers, stakeholders... The 300 questions in the application file allows it to study each activity of the candidate structure with a fine-tooth comb, explains Fanny Auger. Especially since Nature & Découvertes, which was the second French company to be certified in 2015 - it was also the first specialist retailer to obtain the certification - has been assessed every three years since then. “This is precisely the aim,” insists the brand manager. We rely on B-Corp to keep us on our toes, to identify strengths and areas for improvement and to develop our CSR strategy accordingly. Since 2015, B-Corp has been Nature & Découvertes’ CSR compass. This certification is a guideline that allows us to make the right decisions.”
4 000
COMPANIES IN 77 COUNTRIES ARE ALREADY B-CORP CERTIFIED WORLDWIDE, INCLUDING 190 IN FRANCE.
16
N°07 I A new way of talking business
BELIEVING IN YOURSELF, A USER GUIDE It is not always easy to have self-confidence at the age of eighteen or twenty, even when you have just passed a demanding competitive examination and joined IÉSEG. Beyond its purely pedagogical missions, the school strives to create a climate conducive to the development of its students, in their academic career and beyond. Why are we not the same when we enter and leave a school like IÉSEG? What makes you feel ready to enter the professional world, to create your own company and to fly on your own wings? If academic achievements and skills are obviously fundamental, the evolution that transforms a student into a young professional also deRose SERMAIZE pends on one key word: trust First year student - a mutual trust, explains Rose Sermaize, a first-year student, emphasizing that one does not choose one’s school by chance: “rankings count but what appeals, above all, is a general impression. The quality of the teaching provided, the comprehensive aspect of the training, the student life... IÉSEG gave me the impression that it offered the best possible way to progress”. A campus on a human scale in Lille and Paris, a vast network of alumni, a particular sensitivity to CSR... The delicate alchemy that leads a candidate and his family to join IÉSEG depends on a feeling of trust that is difficult to define, but decisive: “The school trusts us to make us into people who will make a difference, we trust it to give us the necessary tools”, explains the young student, who got involved, early on, in the life of the school through the student association of the Lille campus, where she is in charge of corporate relations.
GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT
At the other end of the curriculum, Ophélie Vanbremeersch is preparing to graduate after a few busy years: in February 2020, she launched “Lunettes de ZAC”, a company committed to collecting and reconditioning glasses in an eco-responsible manner, while continuing her MSc in International Business in Lille. A considerable challenge and long days, but also a favourable framework for the growth of a project launched in the middle of a pandemic, and which has grown well. “When you start a company at my age, you have to learn everything,” explains the young founder, “especially when you haven’t been around entrepreneurs. The support of the school is manifested in several ways and obviously contributes to giving me more and more confidence in myself and in my project”. Directly, first of all, by providing the skills and knowledge that are useful when launching a business: marketing, human sciences etc. Then, indirectly: “when you start out at such a young age, studying at IÉSEG is a good calling card, especially because it’s a wellknown school, with a vast network of alumni and partners that you can easily meet. This is likely to reassure investors by giving credibility to my career”, explains the young entrepreneur who is raising her first funds this spring. But the most important element is more informal, considers Ophélie Vanbremeersch, winner of the CSR Challenge of the Junior Entreprise IĖSEG Conseil Lille. “Beyond the quality of their courses, I had the chance to meet experienced teachers who listened to me. Talking with them helps to avoid certain pitfalls, to think about concrete issues, such as time to market... This benevolence is particularly valuable in order to feel confident, especially at times when one is often confronted with the unknown.”
Ophélie VANBREMEERSCH Fifth year student, founder of Lunettes de ZAC
“The evolution that transforms a student into a young worker also involves a key word: trust.”
TRUST UNDER THE INFLUENCE Unavoidable. In just a few years, influencers have made their mark on the marketing world, courted by companies seduced by the impact of these social network stars on subscribers who can sometimes be counted in millions. But why do consumers trust influencers who make no secret of the financial nature of these partnerships? “We all trust people we know,” Édouard CRÉMER explains Edouard Crémer, Co-founder of Sampleo. co-founder of Sampleo (a subsidiary of Webedia Group), which specialises in influencer campaigns. “What makes the influencer different is that they put themselves on stage and create a close relationship with their audience. It works because they like doing it and that has an impact on their audience. Very few continue out of sheer financial interest.” Who are the consumers influenced today by these professionals, who were once very much focused on the young? It will soon concern everyone: “their audience is often under 35 years old today but... it is getting older. McFly and Carlito are followed by the thirty-somethings who discovered them with Golden Moustache and who have evolved with them,” explains Édouard Crémer. So much so that all sectors now use them, including the banking sector and the army. “Any brand, any product and any institution can be interested in influence. The only question is to know who you want to address and therefore what type of influencer you need.”
A new way of talking business I N°07
17
NICE TO MEET YOU
FEET ON THE GROUND, LOOKING TOWARDS THE SKY For anyone who has ever had a stiff neck at an air show, Virginie Guyot’s career is bound to be impressive. An engineer, a graduate of the Air Force Academy, a fighter pilot, the first woman to be assigned to the Mirage F1CR, a patrol leader at the age of 29 and a squadron commander, she was also the first to join the prestigious Patrouille de France at the age of 31, in 2008, before taking over as its leader the following year. WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME A PILOT?
Virginie GUYOT Fighter pilot
THE PATROUILLE DE FRANCE HAS A
A DOZEN ALPHA JETS AND 9 PILOTS, NOT TO MENTION
SOME THIRTY MECHANICS..
I dreamt of it very early on, because my father took me to air shows, but for a long time the goal seemed to be a distant one, even inaccessible. The fact that I was a girl did not really play a role: even if being a fighter pilot and the Patrouille de France were not open to women when I was a child, I was unconsciously convinced that this would be the case when I was old enough to do this job. But I had a rather idealised image of fighter pilots. I remember that I didn’t dare go near them and their planes when they were on the ground meeting the public. I never climbed into a cockpit at that time, unlike my little brother, who was not particularly keen on it... And I only took flying lessons once I was in the army, when I was 19.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THE AIR FORCE RATHER THAN CIVIL AVIATION?
Even though my father was an army officer, I do not come from a long line of soldiers. On the other hand, my parents have always been keen to remind us of the duty of remembering, of all that we owe to those who fought so that we can live today in a free country. I grew
18
N°07 I A new way of talking business
up respecting values such as courage, self-sacrifice and respect for those who are ready to give their lives for something that is beyond them as simple individuals. Because I wanted, above all, to feel useful, I first thought of becoming a helicopter pilot for the SAMU(EMS), civil security, mountain rescue... But the army is, in fact, a natural choice.
YOU ORIGINALLY WANTED TO BECOME A HELICOPTER PILOT, NOT A FIGHTER PILOT. WAS THIS A FORM OF SELF-CENSORSHIP?
Probably. When I was young, I didn’t have much confidence in myself. I was afraid of failing, afraid of disappointing myself by aiming for a goal that seemed beyond me. It’s all the more absurd, in retrospect, that believing that becoming a helicopter pilot would be easier, which is not at all true.
HOW DID IT ALL COME ABOUT AND WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO GIVE IT A GO?
I didn’t really have a choice. During the pre-selection tests at the Air Force Academy, my back was deemed too weak to withstand the vibrations of flying a helicopter in the long term. However, I was considered fit for fighter aircrafts by
WINGS OF FRANCE Based at the 701 air base in Salon-de-Provence, the Patrouille de France will celebrate its 70th anniversary next year. During these seven decades, it has become one of the most famous acrobatic formations in the world, on a par with the American Blue Angels or the British Red Arrows, with whom it competes throughout the summer season which is reserved for major air events. Renewed by a third each year, the Patrouille has nine pilots but it most often flies in a formation of eight aircrafts, Alpha Jets in the colours of the French flag. Its commander (“Athos 1”) only remains in post for one year: the only member of the team to speak in flight, it is he or she who determines with the team the figures and formations that the Patrouille works on throughout the winter season. A risky exercise: since 1953, nine members of the Patrouille de France have died in exercise.
a doctor who felt that I could withstand the shock of a possible ejection. I came out of it with a real determination to give it a go.
WHAT QUALITIES ARE NEEDED TO COMMAND A FIGHTER PLANE?
Aside from technical knowledge or physical and psychotechnical aspects, self-control is as essential as the ability to work in a team. Contrary to the image one might have, a fighter pilot never flies alone. Apart from the fact that a comrade is always there in a supporting role, all missions require preparation and various skills: preparing the aircraft, tactical intelligence... Team spirit is an essential component and is constantly evaluated.
YOU HAVE BEEN IN SEVERAL OPEX*. WHICH MISSIONS DO YOU REMEMBER MOST VIVIDLY?
Afghanistan. I was deployed there twice, the second time in Kandahar, in a camp exposed to Taliban attacks. The rhythm was quite intense with daily missions, often in support of ground troops: reconnaissance, convoy escorts... The unexpected was the rule: we were sometimes called in the middle of a mission to respond to an emergency elsewhere. You have to adapt constantly...
YOU WERE THE FIRST FEMALE PILOT TO JOIN THE PATROUILLE DE FRANCE IN 2009, AND THAT ATTRACTED MEDIA ATTENTION. HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT IT?
Joining the Patrouille de France meant achieving what had long seemed impossible. It is an immense joy, a tremendous source of pride but it also entails intense pressure: you are where you have always wanted to be, but you don’t know if you will be up to the task... Like all the pilots who join the Patrouille de France, I was all the more afraid of not being able to do it because aerobatics is a distinctive exercise. Evolving at 700 km/h in the middle of eight planes and two metres apart has nothing to do with a combat mission, or with a piloting finesse that we didn’t necessarily need to master at the controls of a mirage. We have to perform complex and risky tricks in a very short time, knowing that time is short. We only have six months to get up to speed. We are flying on a needle head...
YOU ARE STILL THE ONLY WOMAN TO HAVE LED AN AEROBATIC FIGHTER PATROL. ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THE SYMBOLIC ROLE THAT HAS INEVITABLY BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH YOU?
There is a form of ambiguity which actually bothers me insofar as I don’t want to leave the impression that my career path is unique, and therefore inaccessible. That would be counterproductive, whereas I want to convey the opposite idea: you don’t have to be Wonder Woman to become a fighter pilot. Showing the way is obviously a source of pride, my path is only an example, not an absolute reference. There are paths other than mine in order to achieve your dream. I have qualities, but I also have faults... We are not predestined to reach this or that goal. We just have to give ourselves the means to do so.
*External operations refer to all French military interventions outside the national territory.
A new way of talking business I N°07
19
TRUST, DRIVER OF PERFORMANCE > Meet inspiring speakers and participate in discussions of great quality!
UNIVERSITÉ D’ÉTÉ – 6TH EDITION FRIDAY, JUNE 17TH, 2022 - ON PARIS-LA DÉFENSE CAMPUS OR ONLINE